A Comparative Analysis of Parent-Child Relationships in Two Stories

This essay provides a comparative analysis of parent-child relationships as depicted in Alice Munro's 'Royal Beatings' and William Faulkner's 'Barn Burning'. The essay explores the themes of physical and emotional abuse, examining how parents exert control and inflict harm on their children in both stories. The analysis highlights instances of verbal and physical abuse, comparing the dynamics of the relationships and the motivations behind the parents' actions. The essay argues that while physical abuse is present, the emotional and verbal abuse is the more dominant form. The essay uses textual evidence from both stories to support its claims, drawing attention to the impact of these relationships on the children's experiences. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the significance of understanding these complex familial relationships within a literary context.

Running head: PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN ROYAL BEATINGS AND BARN BURNING
PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN ROYAL BEATINGS AND BARN BURNING
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN ROYAL BEATINGS AND BARN BURNING
Introduction
In this essay, a compare and contrast will be done on the parent-child relationship as
shown in the two chosen stories. The two chosen stories include Royal Beatings by Alice Munro
and Barn Burning by William Faulkner. While the former is about the story of a girl and her
parents, the latter is the story of a boy and his father. The main argument of this essay is that the
parent-child relationship is more verbally abusive than it is physically.
Discussion
In both the stories, the parent abuses the child physically as well as verbally. The readers
are introduced to the plot of the story in the very beginning of the Royal Beatings. “Royal
Beating. That was Flo’s promise. You are going to get one Royal Beating” (1) (p. 119). Rose, the
story’s main character is a young girl who lives with her father, stepmother Flo and half-brother
Brian in Hanratty, a small town in Canada. The family lives in the poor part of the town where
they have a grocery store that Flo runs. Although Flo does not directly inflict beatings on Rose,
she instigates her husband to beat the child. In Barn Burning, the child is abused by his father
and even made to lie. Colonel Sartoris Snopes was the name of the child whose father, Mr.
Snopes used to abuse him and scare him. The first instance of the father abusing the child was
when the family went out of the county because his father had caused someone’s barn burn out
of anger. While spending the night in a camp, the father hits Sartoris in the head thinking that he
might have planned to testify against his father at the Justice of the Peace Court. “You were
fixing to tell them. You would have told them. His father struck him with the flat of his hand on
the side of the head (2) (p. 4).” It needs mentioning that Mr. Harris called on little Sartoris in the

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PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN ROYAL BEATINGS AND BARN BURNING
court, the man who had accused Snopes of burning his barn to testify against his father but he
stayed quiet.
The parent in Royal Beatings is instigated to beat the child whereas in Barn Burning, the
parent abuses the child without any instigation. As has been mentioned previously, Rose’s father
gives her royal beating on instigation from her stepmother Flo. Flo herself never used to abuse
physically Rose apart from the occasional slaps and cuffs. The father did all the beatings even in
the smallest of faults committed by Rose. On several occasions, Rose enters into some sort of
argument with Flo, which Flo could not take and complains her husband. The father does not
even try to listen to what Rose has to say and starts scolding and beating her on instigation from
Flo. “Rose tries to butt in to say this isn’t true. Her father raises a hand, doesn’t look at her,
says, Be quiet” (1) (p. 131). These lines provide the evidence as to the fact that Rose used to be
beaten up by her father because of her stepmother’s instigation. In contrast to this, young Sartoris
receives beating from his father without anyone’s instigation but because of his father’s own
impulse behavior. Although the abuse was not that much physical but it was verbal and mental.
The young boy watches silently as his father carries on doing wrong to others but out of fear of
beating, he tries to defend his father. “His father appeared at the door, framed against that
shabbiness, as he had been against that other bland perfection, impervious to either, the
mother’s anxious face at his shoulder (2) ”( p. 7). These lines clearly show the dominating figure
of the father that scared Sartoris.
Conclusion
As evident from the discussion above, the child in the two chosen stories faces abuse of
both physical and mental nature with mental abuse being the more dominant. While comparing

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PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN ROYAL BEATINGS AND BARN BURNING
and contrasting the two stories – Royal Beatings and Barn Burning – it was found that the child
character in the first receives physical abuse from the father and the father mostly emotionally
abuses the child in the second story. The argument was proved using instances from the stories.

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PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP IN ROYAL BEATINGS AND BARN BURNING
References:
1. Munro A. Royal Beatings [Internet]. Uwyo.instructure.com. 2019 [cited 7 April 2019].
Available from: https://uwyo.instructure.com/courses/447426/files/36693231?
module_item_id=8592258
2. Faulkner W. Barn Burning [Internet]. Faculty.weber.edu. 2019 [cited 7 April 2019]. Available
from: http://faculty.weber.edu/jyoung/english%206710/barn%20burning.pdf